Improvement in machinery for whipping hair



I. DAVIS;

Hair Picker.

Patented Dec. 25,1855.

. U W i .N E I ia MK.

. m N w N A N. g M M PATENT tries.

ISAAC DAVIS, OF MEOHANICSBURG, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINERY FOR WHIPPING HAIR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. I 3.981, dated December25, 1855.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ISAAC DAVIS, of Mechanicsburg, in the county ofGhampaign and State of Ohio, have invented an automatic hair-whipper forthe purpose of preparing crude hair for the use of plasterers, upholsterers, saddlers, and others; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the construction andoperation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 representsa view in perspective of the machine. Fig. 2 represents a verticalsection through the center, and Fig. 3 repre sents a horizontalsection,showing the register for regulating the admixture of air withthe hair as it passes from the machine, and also at the same timeregulating the feed of the hair by varying the force of the current ofair flowing in at the hopper.

In whipping or beating hair by hand, long flexible sticks about thethickness of the finger are employed. The operator places a quantity ofhair on a suitable table or platform, and then with a stick in each handbeats it vigorously, striking with the sticks alternately. If the sticksbe too rigid, they will neither prepare the hair as well nor as rapidlyas if they possessed the required degree of flexibility. The object ofthis beating is to separate the lime and earthy matter from the hair,and to beat out the numerous clotted lumps or tufts, so that the wholemass will be homogeneous, flocculent, and light. Various attempts havebeen made to perform this operation by machinery, but without success.The wool-picker seems to have been the favorite contrivance of .thosewho have attempted to whip hair by machinery, but it has not been foundefficient for the purpose, because it discharged hair too soon, andbroke the lumps into smaller pieces, instead of whipping them into aflocculent mass of hair and dust, as is done by hand with flexiblesticks. Other contrivances that have been resorted to for the samepurpose have failed as signally as the picker to perform the operation.

My automatic hair-whipper consists of two series of long flexible rodsof metal, one series,

a, mounted radially on a shaft, A, in spiral rows, and the other series,1), arranged in rows in the periphery of a hollow cylinder, B, andconverging toward the center of the same. This hollow cylinder is aboutthe size of a com mon flourbarrel, and stands upon three legs, 0. On itsbottom a step, d, is secured, on which the pivot of the lower end of theshaft A turns. The upper end of the shaft turns in a suitable bearing ona bracket, 0, secured to the top or upper head of this cylinder, whichbracket also carries a hand-crank, f, that turns a bevelwheel, whichtakes into a pinion, h, on the upper extremity of the shaft A,to givethe latter a rapid rotary motion. The rotary flexible rods on the shaftsare so arranged that their planes of rotation are in the spaces betweenthe stationary flexible rods, converging from the periphery of thecylinder. The upper head of i the cylinder is provided with a hopper, i,through which the hair .is fed into the cylinder. The lower part of theside of the cylinder has an aperture made in it, through which thewhipped hair and dust are discharged. The bottom head of the cylinder isperforated with numerous holes, and immediately over the bottom athinregister-plate,j, is mounted, which turns on the same center as theshaft. This registerplate is perforated with holes corresponding tothose on the bottom, so that by turning the plate more or less the holesin the bottom can be wholly or partially closed as may be required forpurposes that will presently be explained.

This machine is operated to very great advantage by turning thecrankwith the right, and feeding in the hair with the left, hand. The hopperat which the hair enters is near the axis of the cylinder,while theaperture for the discharge of the hair is in the periphery of thecylinder. Then, therefore, the shaft and its rods are rapidly rotated,their centrifugal force will, like a fan, cause an influx of air at thehopper and an efilux at the dischargeaperture. If the entering currentis too strong, it will feed in the hair too rapidly, and will also carryit through the machine too fast to give it time to be thoroughlywhipped. To remedy this the register at the bottom may be opened toadmit air, and if the discharge of air by centrifugal force through theaperture k, at which the hair leaves the cylinder, is supplied in partfrom the bottom, it is obvious that less will be drawn in at the top.Again,

' if the hopper be kept filled with hair, as it always will, when themachine is doing full duty, the openings through the bottom of thecylinder will supply the necessary air to cause the hair to be depositedin a light flocculent mass, and to carry off the dust. When the hairenters the cylinder it is instantly struck by the revolving rods, andthrown violently among the stationary rolls. If a lump be too large topass freely between the rods,the latter, being elastic, will yield toalow it to pass, and it will be carried round by a rapid succession ofblows by the revolving rods from one stationary rod to another, at thesame time that its gravity and the current of air from above will impelit downward, until finally it is thoroughly whipped and driven out atthe aperture 70 on the lower edge of the cylinder. As the hair isentangled and impeded in its clownward course by the rods, it cannotdescend as rapidly as the dust, hence the latter is effectuallyseparated from the, former.

What I claim in the foregoing as my invention, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. A combination of a series of long, slender, and elastic revolvingrods with a similar series of stationary rods arranged and operatingwithin a cylinder, as herein set forth, for the purpose of whippinghair.

2. In combination with the foregoing, a register, in the bottomperforated head of the cylinder, for the purpose of reg ulating thestrength of the downward current in the cylinder and insuring a dueadmixture of air with the whipped hair as it leaves the machine.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ISAAC DAVIS.

WVitncsses:

A. B. GOWAN, JOHN WV. J ONES.

